I'd give it a four star but there's a couple of points which need to be addressed.....
20 April 2025 at 11:06:41
We stayed here for the first time this April. I've wanted to stay here for a long time with my family.
First impressions. Long queue at check in, but that was expected as we arrived at around 3pm. The lady who checked us in was friendly and explained everything to us. All was very straightforward.... Drove to our accommodation, a little tricky to find our car park space but not a problem - all spaces are numbered.
On first glance accommodation was new and tidy. We stayed in a Premium Plus Duingalow for 6 persons, with air conditionining & sunshower. We paid for bedding so just needed to put that on, again, not a problem (make sure to check if you have paid for bedding, or for towels - we brought our own towels and pool towels).
However, when putting the bedding on my children found dirty socks, underwear, jewellery and rings from the previous occupants in the bunk beds - so obviously the cleaners had not been as thorough as they should have been. Whilst slightly off putting, I didn't want to go back to reception and the busy queues.
The location of our duingalow was perfect for the park, for the shops and all amenities. Apart from random children running in front of the accommodation of an evening (each duingalow has a sort of private bit of space in front of it with chairs and loungers), it was private and not overlooked from the main road - I would imagine if you were in the front row of duingalows this could be an issue, as the accomodation doesn't have any privacy apart from heavy curtains which you don't want to pull during the day.
The park itself wasn't too busy at the time of visit, queueing was minimal and my children loved the freedom of being able to go into the park by themselves (they were older and not under any of the height restrictions). Big bonus is being able to go back to your accommodation to have a cuppa and refresh and then head back to the park. I can imagine in peak season it would be very very busy.
The onsite supermarket was fine for little bits and bobs, a little bit more pricey than supermarkets but that's to be expected. Well stocked, however long queues at times. There is a fresh bakery there and I'd often see people getting their croissants etc first thing in the morning :)
The local town of Wassennaar has several supermarkets, a Jumbo and a Aldi, and another which name escapes me. Jumbo is reasonably priced and saved us a fortune from eating out as we cooked in the accommodation.
In the accommodation; we had an electric hob and a microwave oven - it's a bit tricky to work out how to cook using that and we had to look up online - so plan your meals wisely! On the last day I found a manual tucked away in one of the drawers.
In terms of equipment, we had a coffee machine, a nespresso, toaster, kettle , all the major things you need. We did get a welcome pack of a very small container of washing up liquid, 3 x dishwasher tablets, a sponge, a tea towel, some bin bags and matches.
You'll need to get more washing up liquid, bring another tea towel and dishwasher tablets (I brought these from home as we drove).
The size of the duingalow - although being marketed for 6 people, we already decided we'd need bigger accommodation if we came again - as for three older children, we needed an extra toilet and more room for us all. The bunk bed room is very small and the twin room does not have a wardrobe. The main bedroom is small and hard to get changed in!
Tiki Pool - booking direct with Duinrell gives you free entry to the Tiki Pool. We had 2 passes for the whole family and you can book a day in advance using the special code they give you. Book early to get the slot you want. We went in the evening, but if we did again I'd try the morning as it would probably be quieter.
The Tiki Pool can be very loud and I noticed they're very strict on small children using the pool and having arm bands on (which is a good thing) but if you don't know about this, it can be frustrating - even if your child can swim they won't let them go in the pool (check in advance the age - I think its about 7).
Take flip flops for the poolside. It's like any other pool with hair etc :(
It can be extremely chaotic, busy and noisy (worth noting if you have a child who struggles with noise) - the first time we got lockers upstairs which were newer and they had a really easy system to get a locker (no coins needed, you just picked a code and they allocated you a locker on the screen - no extra charge). The second time we had to use the downstairs changing room which was really really cramped, really busy, and it used the old fashioned key and bracelet system. It was also full of incredibly obnoxious, loud, shouting students who were not just loud, they were continually shouting and screaming. Horrible.
Worth mentioning that the staff cleaning the locker rooms were helpful and constantly tidying them up. Swimming pool staff are pretty hot on observing things - which is good, considering the amount of young people unaccompanied who can be a little bit......silly. They were friendly when we had to ask a couple of questions.
Bike hire - we didn't hire a bike but hired the go karts. My kids loved them. Worth doing. Seeing them riding around the park (not the theme park) and the freedom was lovely.
Staff - a bit of a mixed bag. Some staff really friendly, however one receptionist we encountered was very rude; didn't even acknowledge us. I do wonder what kind of service we would have received had we encountered a problem. I hate to say it, but I feel there could be a bit of an issue.
Language - we tried to pick up a few words in Dutch, and many people speak excellent English (although we wanted to try a few basics in Dutch if we could). Food shopping was a little bit tricky at times but google translate is wonderful and also, this was part of the fun.
Location - the town of Wassennaar is beautiful and within walking distance. We didn't get to visit the beach but it looked beautiful. Amsterdam is about a 45 minute drive away (don't park in the city, park at one of the park and rides).
All in all though, an action packed, busy few days. We absolutely loved that we could use the theme park as much as we wanted and felt we could have stayed for longer.
The only things I might suggest to the park would be:-
Customer service - there's a few areas that need to be addressed - particularly with some on reception
Cleanliness - accommodations should be checked and cleaned thoroughly - as well as the previous occupants dirty laundry, I did notice that the corners and edges were a bit dirty and dusty.
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